Farkle is a dice game that can be played with two or more players and is similar to other games, including 1000/5000/1000, Cosmic Wimpout, Greed, Hot Dice, Zonk and Darsh, among others. Although the game is rumored to have its origins in the early modern period, it was only in the early 1980s that Farkle was marketed commercially. Want to play? The rules are fairly simple.

Steps

Method1

Playing with the Standard Rules

1

Gather your players around a table or other flat surface. Determine who will roll first by having each player roll one die; the player with the highest roll gets to go first. Players will take turns in a clockwise direction.

2

Make sure everyone knows the standard points system. This will help make the game go smoothly.

A roll of a 1 is worth 100 points.

A roll of a 5 is worth 50 points.

A roll of three of a kind is worth 100 times the face value. For example, if you roll three 2s, your total will be 200 points, three 5s will be 500 points and so on. However, there is an important exception to this rule; three 1s are worth 1,000 points, instead of 100 points.[1]

3

Start with the first player's roll. Roll all six dice at the same time and remove at least one "point dice," meaning any dice that are worth points like 1s, 5s, or three of a kind.

Players do not have to set aside all point dice. It is important to consider strategy here. For instance, in cases where a player rolls two point dice, such as a 1 and 5, it can be strategic to keep the 1 aside and place the other back with the rest of the non-point dice to be rolled. In so doing, you may have a better chance at rolling a three of a kind (or other combination) and thus increasing your score.[2]

4

Observe the standard rules of "farkling" and "hot dice." In the case of the former, this is where the game gets its name from.

If the player rolls and no point dice appear, this is called a "farkle." In the case of a farkle, the player loses all the point dice collected during that turn. The turn then passes to the next player on the left.

If the player rolls and all six dice become point dice, something known as "hot dice," the player must roll all of the dice once more before stopping and adding the points collected. There is no limit to the number of "hot dice" a player may roll in one turn.

5

Keep rolling the remaining dice. In other words, the player can roll to collect more points, or stop and keep any points acquired. Carefully consider strategy in deciding whether to roll or stop. For example, if a player throws 1,2,3,3,3,5, any of the following plays are possible:

Score three 3s as 300 points and then roll the remaining three dice.

Score the single 1 as 100 points and then roll the remaining five dice.

Score the single 5 as 50 points and then roll the remaining five dice.

Score three 3s, the single 1, and the single 5 for a total of 450 points and then roll the remaining die.

Score three 3s, the single 1, and the single 5 for a total of 450 points. Stop rolling and score the 450 points.

If the player continues rolling in any of the above cases except for the last, they risk rolling a farkle and losing all accumulated points from that turn.

However, if they score five dice and have only one die left to roll, they have a 1 in 3 chance of scoring a 1 or a 5. Then, having scored all six dice they will have "hot dice" and can roll all six dice again to gain more points.

6

Record all points collected on the paper after each player's turn. It's important to keep clear records in order to keep the game fair and fun!

7

Play until a winner is proclaimed. To win, a player must get 10,000 points. After a player gets over 10,000, the other players get one turn to try to beat the first player out of the game. Declare a winner based on this last roll and play again![3]

Method2

Playing with Alternative Rules

1

Gather your players around a table or other flat surface. Determine who will roll first by having each player roll one die; whoever gets the highest score is the first player, as in the standard Farkle game.

2

Establish the scoring variations you would like to play with. Common variations include:

A straight (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) on one roll is worth 1,500, 2000, or 3000 points or no points.

A full house (three of a kind and a pair) is worth the three of a kind value plus 250 points (e.g., 3, 3, 3, 2, 2 = 550 points).

Two sets of three of a kind: 2,500 points

Four of a kind is scored as 1,000 points, or double the three of a kind value, or quadruple the three of a kind value.

Five of a kind is scored as 2,000 points, or triple the three of a kind value, or six times the three of a kind value.

Six of a kind is scored as 3,000 points, or quadruple the three of a kind value, or eight times the three of a kind value.

Six 1s are worth 5000 points, or the player is instantly declared the winner.[4]

3

Establish the changes to the sequence of play. Common variations include:

Playing with five dice instead of six. Some scoring combinations (e.g. three pair) are not possible in this version of Farkle.

Playing in teams, rather than individually. Players on the same team combine their scores and sit opposite other teams.

Establishing a threshold in players' opening turns before they can begin scoring. Common thresholds are 350, 400, 500, and 1,000. At the beginning of the game, each player must throw in their turn until they reach the threshold; after that point, they can choose to stop or keep rolling in all subsequent turns.

Changing the winning score to greater or less than 10,000 points (e.g., 20,000 or 5,000 points). Another option is to make the score exactly 10,000 points, which is called the "welfare" version of Farkle. If a player scores above 10,000, all points won during that turn are transferred to the player with the lowest score.

Changing the farkling rules. If a player farkles three times in a row, he/she loses 500 or 1,000 points.

Allowing players to begin their turn by rolling the dice remaining from the previous player's roll (those dice not set aside for scoring). If the player scores with any of the dice on the first roll, they receive 1,000 points in addition to any other points they win. This is called the High Stakes (Piggy-backing) variant.[5]

4

Agree on all the rules and then begin to play. Take turns in a clockwise direction and roll until a winner is declared. Have fun!

Quick Summary

To play Farkle, start by rolling all 6 dice. Then, figure out whether to keep rolling to maximize your points, which come from the 1- and 5-sides of the dice and from getting three of a kind, which gives you the most points. Each time you roll, you can set aside any or all dice that give you points, or you can re-roll as many dice as you want to try and get more points. If you roll and don’t get any 1- or 5-sides or three of a kind, that’s a “Farkle,” so you lose all the points already collected during your turn and your turn is over. If you get to 10,000 points and nobody gets more points with one additional roll, you win!

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Tips

Note that scoring combinations only count when made with a single roll. For example, if a player rolls a 1 and sets it aside and then rolls two 1s, they can only score 300 points (not 1,000).